F6 



BATTLE BETWEEN 



THE 



Merrimac 



AND THE 



Monitor 



i&WW^ 



BY ELIJAH W. FLAKE, 
One of the Survivors of the Merrimac. 



MARCH ^ 
9TH, 1862' 



SOLD BY THE AUTHOR— POLKTON, N. C, 
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COPYRIGHT 1914 BY 

ELIJAH W. FLAKE 



m -5 



1914 




ELIJAH W FLAKE 



Battle Between The Merrimac 
And The Monitor. 



By E. W. FLAKE, 
One of the Survivors of the Merrimac. 



About ten years ago I read in the Charlotte 
Observer something about the last survivor of the 
Merrimac. Not many days after a man in Ten- 
nessee bobbed up by the name of Allbright stat- 
ing that he served on the Merrimac as Paymaster. 
I knew he was one of our crew for I had receiv- 
ed money from his hands. Some years after that 
I read of another man who had died, being the 
"last survivor of the Merrimac.'* Later I was 
informed that the Legislature of North Carolina 
had pensioned the "last survivor of the Merrimac,'' 
whose name I did not learn. I will make this 
statement, however, that it wasn't me. Not 
many months ago I read of the death of a man in 
Tennessee by the name of Eggleston who was 
supposed to be "the last survivor of the Merri- 
mac.'' So you see, my friends, it is a hard mat- 
ter to get behind — "the last survivor of the Mer- 
rimac." But this I know — I served on the Mer- 



rimac during the engagement between her and 
the three wooden ships that blockaded the James 
River, and also the next day between the Merri- 
mac and the Monitor. The Merrimac was also 
called "The Virginia" and the Monitor was also 
called "The Ericson Battery." There being so 
many survivors and "last survivor" of the Merri- 
mac, I wish to prove my claim by living witnesses 
that I was one of the boys who took part in the 
first battle between iron clads in the history of the 
world. By calling on Mr. W K. Boggan, our 
Clerk of the Superior Court, he will show you a 
list of the names of Anson Guards and where my 
name appears as having been transferred to the 
Navy. Our regiment was then stationed near, 
Smithfield, Virginia, not very far from Portsmouth, 
where the Merrimac was being made ready for 
the coming conflict. But if I had no further 
proof, the fact that I was transferred to the Navy 
would not make good my claim that I was one of 
the crew of the Merrimac, for I might have been 
sent to some other port and some other ship and 
still have been in the Navy. My next witness 
will be Mr. E. F. Fenton, who will tell you that 
he and I corresponded while I was on the Mer- 
rimac. Mr. E. D. Gaddy will tell you that he 
made me a present of a Bible when 1 left the 
company to enlist as one of the crew of that 
ship. Dr. E. A. Covington and Capt. W. A. 
Smith, living witnesses, will tell you that I was 



transferred from the Anson Guards to the first iron 
clad ship that ever fired a gun in naval warfare. 
"Seeing that we are compassed about by so 
great a crowd of witnessess" let us proceed to 
describe the battle as best we can between the 
three wooden ships; also between the Merrimac 
and Monitor the next day. But before we begin 
the description of the two days' battle let us give 
a description of our ship and her armament. Our 
ship, as most everybody knows, was a hull of a 
United States ship which the Union forces de- 
stroyed when they evacuated Norfolk and Ports- 
mouth early in the year 1861. The name of the 
vessel was the "Merrimac" named "The Virgin- 
ia" by the Confederates after it was rebuilt by 
them. Hence, the two names. Almost every 
writer refers to it as the "Merrimac,*' consequent- 
ly we shall deal with it as the "Merrimac" and 
not as the "Virginia." When the Union forces 
left the Navy Yard at Portsmouth they not only 
destroyed the "Merrimac," but burned everything 
in the Navy Yard that could be burned. The 
hull of the "Merrimac" was 275 feet long and 
the house or shield built upon this hull was one 
hundred and sixty feet long Our armour consist- 
ed of ten guns as follows : Four Brooke rifles, 
two of which was 7 inches, and two were 6.4 
inches, six 9 inch smooth bores. The two 7 in. 
rifles were known as the stern and bow guns, and 
the other 8 were known as the port and starboard 



batteries. Our armor plate consisted of two 
layers of broad iron — each two inches thick, fast- 
ened to wooden beams, two feet thick. These 
wooden beams were fastened to the ship like 
rafters to a house, only they did not come together 
at the top — leaving a flat space at the top of the 
ship, called the spar deck. Port poles were made 
for the guns mounted on carriages inside of the ship. 
These carriages were operated by ropes and tack- 
les. It took from 1 5 to 20 men to operate one gun. 
The crew of ship was 320. Had we put three 
layers of iron on our ship at first, as we did after 
the battle with the "Monitor,'' we would doubt- 
less have brought the "Monitor" home with us, 
and there would have been no bragging over a 
victory that was never won, and McClellan's men 
could never have taken refuge in the James River 
on the Union gun boats. "Ifs'* and "buts" are 
great hindrances in war as well as other things. 
We will now lead you down the Elizabeth River 
to the mouth of the James where are three large 
battle ships and over 100 guns to welcome our 
coming. On the 8th day of March, 1862, we 
introduced ourselves to the enemy lying in 
Hampton Roads, and not only to these war 
ships, but we proclaimed to the world that hence 
forth it must look to the mines as well as the 
forest for material with which to build battle ships. 
See us as we steam along on our iron craft about 
21 feet under water and some 10 or 12 above, 



with 4 inch of armor plate and ten guns ! Spec- 
tators are on the shore, both Confederate and 
Union, and are anxiously looking on and 
listening for the first gun. Norfolk and Ports- 
mouth were almost deserted going to Sewell's 
Point, Craney Island and other points, where 
they could witness the battle they knew was to 
soon take place. Handkerchiefs were waving 
and flags were displayed by those on shore, but 
no cheering could be heard. A death-like still- 
ness pervades the scene A gun from the gun- 
boat Beaufort is fired at the Congress as an open- 
ing shot. The Merrimac now steamed alongside 
the Congress, giving her a broadside of four guns 
and receiving twice that many from her. We 
are in close range and our shots take effect while 
the shots from the enemy make no impression on 
our iron sides. We make no halt but steam 
right ahead for the Cumberland not far above in 
the James river. The Cumberland had destroyed 
the Merrimac when she left the Navy Yard in 
Portsmouth early in 1861 and now the Merrimac 
proposes to renew old acquaintanceship with her. 
With our prow aimed at the wooden side of 
the Cumberland and with a full head of steam on 
we soon ran our prow into her wooden side, and 
soon the bottom of the Cumberland and the bot- 
tom of the river are in each other's embraces, 
while the mast poles of the ship stand out of the 
water as so many tombstones pointing to the dead 



below. The crew of the gun to which I belonged 
gave a shout recalling what the Cumberland had 
done at the Navy Yard early in 1861. Our 
Lieutenant, J. R. Eggleston, joined in the cheer, 
but Lieut. C. R Jones, now in command of the 
ship, rebukes us. But our victory is not without 
loss to the Confederates, for two men have been 
killed and several wounded, including our Com- 
modore, and the ends of two of our guns have 
been shot off. Commodore Buchanan was wound- 
ed while on top the Merrimac by a minnie ball 
from the Cumberland, but our killed and other 
wounded was through port holes. The explosion 
of a shell from the enemy's gun that shot off the 
ends of two of our guns wounded several of our 
men, but the men killed, I think, were through 
port holes by small arms. Lieut. Jones, now in 
command, starts back to the Congress we left 
crippled. As the Minnesota had gotten into 
shallow water and the day was drawing to a close 
we wasted but little time with her, but made for 
the Congress we had left crippled. Firing anoth- 
er broadside into her brings down the stars and 
stripes to be replaced by the white flag. Send- 
ing one of our wooden boats for the prisoners and 
the spoils, the enemy fired on it from the land, so 
after taking twenty-three prisoners, we fire a hot 
shot into the Congress and set it on fire. It was 
now nearly night, and the Merrimac retired to 
Sewell's Point, and there rested for the night. 



The burning Congress and the explosion of her 
magazines furnished a grand spectacle for all who 
witnessed the scene. But before another night 
shall have spread its darkness over the face of the 
deep another scene is to take place, the like of 
which has never been witnessed in the history of 
the world before During the night another iron 
clad passed by way of Fortress Monroe to the 
battle-ground of the day previous. This new 
comer is called the "Monitor," and belongs to the 
Union forces. She is of small size, carrying only 
two guns, but she need not be despised, for she has 
come for business. Planting herself by the Min- 
nesota about midnight she waits for the morning 
and the coming of the "Merrimac " Finally the 
"Merrimac" turns her bow towards the Minne- 
sota and starts for the field of the previous day's 
engagement. Now we have two vessels dressed 
in black, steaming towards each other with intent 
to kill, but with four or five hour's duel, nobody 
is killed, and so far as the Merrimac is concerned, 
nobody is even wounded. Not a drop of blood 
has been drawn from any of the crew of the "Mer- 
rimac." Only her iron has been bent sufficient 
to splinter her wooden beams underneath the 
iron. But as for the Monitor I will let Mr. Green, 
who was temporarily in command of that ship, 
tell the story. Hear him : 

"Soon after noon a shell from the enemy's gun, 



8 



the muzzle not ten yards distant, struck the for- 
ward side of the pilot house directly in the sight- 
hole or slit, and exploded, cracking the second 
iron log and partly lifting the top, leaving an open- 
ing. Worden was standing immediately behind 
this spot, and received in his face the force of the 
blow, which partly stunned him and filling his 
eyes with powder, entirely blinded him. * 
* * The flood of light rushing through the 
top of the pilot house, now partly opened, caused 
Worden, blind as he was, to believe that the pilot 
house was seriously injured, if not destroyed; he 
therefore gave orders to put the helm to star- 
board and "sheer off." Thus the Monitor retir- 
ed temporarily from the action in order to ascer- 
tain the extent of the injuries she had received. 
At the same time Worden sent for me, and leav- 
ing Stimers, the only officer in the turret, I went 
forward at once and found him standing at the 
foot of the ladder 'leading to the pilot house. He 
was a ghastly sight. With his eyes closed and 
the blood apparently rushing from every pore in 
the upper part of his face." 

At this point, while the Monitor was "sheered 
off," the Merrimac was hard and fast aground. 
Fortunately for us that the Monitor stayed 
"sheered off" during the time we were aground, 
for had the Monitor ran along side of us and 
landed another 180 lb. shot in the same place 



she had struck us before, no telling what might 
have been the result. Again, had not the Mer- 
. rimac got aground she would have probably pur- 
sued the Monitor while she was "sheered off", 
and had the Merrimac landed another shot 
against her pilot house, the Monitor, no doubt, 
would have surrendered So you see that the 
"ifs*' and the "buts'' come in as arbitrators, allow- 
ing both sides to hold their ship, and giving each 
the privilege of claiming the victory. I cannot 
see how the Union side can claim a victory when, 
according to Mr. Green's statements they were 
the first to "sheer off" with a blind and bleeding 
commander, while the Merrimac withdrew after 
the Monitor had retreated without the loss of a 
drop of blood nor was the Merrimac leaking, as 
claimed by Mr. Green. After the Merrimac got 
afloat, rather than risk receiving another shot in 
the same place where we had already received a 
severe blow, retired to Portsmouth, and was put 
in the dry dock for repairs. The Monitor went 
to Fortress Monroe, making that her home Thus 
the iron clads had met, and while neither one 
could claim the victory, the Monitor insisted that 
she gained the day. To show what a victory 
the Monitor had achieved she never gave the 
Merrimac another chance to measure arms with 
her. After repairing our ship and putting on an- 
other layer of iron, we went down to Hampton 
Roads to the same old battle-ground, and fired 



10 



a challenge shot at the Monitor lying under cov- 
er of Fortress Monroe, but the answer to our 
challenge was a slip of paper in a split stick fast- 
ened to a shingle and sent by means of the tide. 
The message on the paper read, "The Captain 
of the Merrimac will please make an attack.'* 
Lying securely under the fort, surrounded by 
torpedoes, the Monitor could safely say "The 
Captain of the Merrimac will please make an 
attack." To all the world who wonders why the 
Merrimac and Monitor never met after first en- 
gagement, I will say, and knowing whereof I 
speak, that the reason was because the Monitor 
would never meet us. After we had put an ex- 
tra layer of iron on our ship we felt satisfied that 
we could more than cope with the Monitor, 
though she had the heaviest guns. Those who 
are familiar with the times know that McClellan 
was marching on Richmond, and it was decided 
to vacate Norfolk, but we were to carry the Mer- 
rimac and all the other boats with her. In order 
for the Merrimac to pass up the James she must 
throw off her ballast, so as to run in shallow water. 
That would expose her wood, and the Monitor 
learning of our plan, went up the James where 
she knew the Merrimac could not come without 
exposing her wood. So that is the reason so oft- 
en asked why we destroyed our own ship. The 
Commander of the Merrimac in the first day's 
engagement was Commodore Buchanan, who 



II 



was wounded while we were engaged with the 
Cumberland. The command then fell upon 
Lieut. Jones who was in command during the en- 
gagement with the Monitor. On our second 
trip Commodore Tatnall was in command, but as 
the Monitor would not meet us he did not have a 
chance to show his hand. I was not on the Mer- 
rimac when she was. set on fire, having been 
transferred to a wooden ship where our sick 
were quartered, expecting to be sent to Rich- 
mond along with the Merrimac After avacu- 
ating Norfolk the crew of the Merrimac were 
quartered at Drewery's Bluff. 

Having relapsed from an attack of measles I 
was sent by rail to a Navy hospital in Richmond. 
I was sent from there to a ship lying in the James 
river, where I witnessed the soldiers going to and 
coming from the battlefield, where the battle-cry 
of McClellan's men was "On to Richmond,** 
but before the seven day*s fight was ended they 
changed their song to "Off from Richmond Early 
in the Morning, down to the gunboats, run 
boys, run.'* Finally I was sent to Drewery*s 
Bluff, where I was discharged and paid off by 
Mr. Allbright, our Paymaster, as mentioned be- 
fore. I afterwards enlisted in the 26th Regi- 
ment, Company K., and was with it when Lee 
surrendered at Appomattox. 



12 



Wadesboro, N. C, 
February 26th, 1914 



J 



This is to certify that E. W. Flake was a 
member of Co. C. 14th Regiment N. C. Infantry, 
and was transferred to the Confederate State's 
Steamer "Merrimac" in preparation in the navy 
yard at Portsmouth, Va., early in the year 1862. 

E. F. FENTON 

DR. E. A. COVrNGTON 

T. J. WATKINS 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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